Later On
by Kitatai
Summary: What happens later on when our favorite genin become chunin and turn 17? Will love spark between them? What about Kakashi, Itachi and Orochimaru? mostly SakuraSasuke, some narutohinata and kakashimystery character and others
1. A New Mission : Search for Orochimaru

CHAPTER 1 : A New Mission : Search for Orochimaru

It was 10 a.m. on a Monday morning and a now 17-year-old, chunin team seven, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, were waiting for Kakashi to arrive with their new mission. He was running late, as usual, but it had been 5 hours since the time they were supposed to meet up with him. Naruto was fuming with anger as Sasuke just huffed and mumbled something about Naruto being a dumb ass. Naruto then took the liberty of trying to punch Sasuke square in the face but failed miserably. Finally, about an hour later, and much frustration from Sakura after Sasuke and Naruto having at each other, Kakashi could been seen walking towards the trio by the bridge while he finished reading his new edition of Make-Out Paradise that he had bought earlier that morning, giggling with a slight blush across his face.

"Finally! You're here! What in the freaking hell took you so long Sensei!?" fumed Naruto.

"Humph, dumb ass," Sasuke said under his breath for the up tenth time that morning.

"What did you say, Sasuke!?" Naruto growled looking back at Sasuke.

"Oh would you two knock it off please!?" Sakura turned to Kakashi and said, "So what is our new mission?"

Kakashi merely giggled at seeing his pupils quarrel, even as they grew they still acted so immature sometimes, and began his explanation of their new mission. "We will be traveling to the Village Hidden in the Sand for our next assignment to search for Orochimaru, who seems to have been spotted quite a few times in the area. After three weeks, if there is no sign of him, we will be returning here, mission accomplished. We will stay at the Kazekage's mansion, and as you well know, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro will be there and you WILL be working with them so do not ask if it can be avoided. Also, as you well know, we will be on their turf, so no horse playing, so, any questions?" Kakashi finished off in his usual, monotone, lazy voice.

"Damn… Kakashi-sensei, do we have to?" Naruto whined.

"I already told you not to ask, now, if there aren't anymore questions, go pack for the mission and meet me back here in two hours," Kakashi said, slightly annoyed.

TWO HOURS LATER…

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto came walking up to the bridge, surprised to see Kakashi already there and talking with someone. As they neared, they realized that this person was none other than their Hokage, Tsunade.

"Ah, there you three are, are you ready to go?" Kakashi asked turning away from Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade, what are you doing here?" The three students asked in unison.

"What? Can't I come and wish my favorite Chunin team good luck?" Tsunade said in a fake disappointed tone and giggled.

"Uh, yea, sure, so are we ready to go sensei, I'm ready to fight!" Naruto exclaimed totally uninterested in Tsunade's appearance.

"Yes, yes, let's be on our way, we will see you upon our return, Lady Tsunade," Kakashi said turning to leave the village as the others followed.

EIGHT HOURS LATER…

"Are we there yet? Damn, we haven't even gotten to fight any yet," Naruto continued to whine as he had been since earlier that day.

"Actually, we are going to stop here for the night and continue for eight more hours tomorrow," Kakashi said in a matter-of-fact tone, stopping and putting his bags down. "All of you put your things down and get set up for the night."

All of them groaned and settled in for the night.

"Alright, I'm going to go take a bath in the river, so if I catch any of you guys peeping on me there will be hell to pay, got that?" Sakura warned the three males. Sakura normally wouldn't be worried about Kakashi but she was getting older and he wasn't exactly what you would call a gentleman, even though she hadn't ever heard of him invading a woman's privacy. She headed off to the river with her bathing supplies and said, "I'll be back in about an hour."

"Man, what is up with girls and baths? I would have never imagined Sakura to turn out to be preppy like Ino," Naruto said scratching his head.

"Naruto, you dumb ass, she's not like Ino. All girls are like that at our age," Sasuke said annoyed at Naruto's boyish question.

Kakashi giggled and looked back down at Make-Out Paradise and thought about how Sasuke had fallen in love with Sakura with out knowing and Naruto had just gotten more and more confused with her. He seemed to lean more towards Hinata these days. Kakashi giggled again thinking about Naruto's reaction when he finds out Hinata will be at the Village Hidden in the Sand as well. The adolescent boys looked at Kakashi as he giggled again and just took it for him reading his naughty book. They had long since found out what was in his books but they didn't seem to think anything about it. Naruto AND Sasuke both would sneak a peak from time to time TOGETHER. Kakashi knew that they did this; however the boys knew nothing of anyone knowing of their ventures, and Kakashi thought it to be amusing and remembered when he was their age and first started reading Make-Out Paradise, knowing full well that it was normal for boys their age. His mind wandered to Sakura as he realized that she had grown and matured a lot in attitude and appearance, and also how he realized that Sasuke had realized this too. She had gotten dramatic curves with all her training and building muscle an her soft, pink hair had grown out to its original length while her facial features had matured considerably. Sasuke would get jealous when a guy would whistle at her or tell her that she was sexy; he even stepped in a couple of times when they tried getting a little TOO friendly and told them to back off. Naturally, they thought it better to do what he said as they knew of his potential. Sakura had brushed it off most times as him protecting a team member and had stopped drooling over Sasuke, as Ino had. He had grown as well, his voice growing deeper and his facial features becoming more masculine and his build was significantly more muscular and toned. Sakura still hoped to be with him, but she had replaced that childish drooling with a mature admiration and, much to her unknowing, love. Sasuke had always had a hard time showing how he felt ever since his clan's death by his brother's hand, but as of lately, they would go on walks together and Sasuke had become more open and talked about how he felt to Sakura about sensitive and personal subjects and found her to be very understanding and caring. He also found her to be very nice company and had been making up excuses lately to take walks with her; he liked being with her when Naruto wasn't there to interrupt. Sakura had also come to like their times together and had no objections when he started asking to go on walks more frequently. She liked how he opened up and she found herself opening up more about her past and how her parents died. They would walk by the river, through the woods, an up to the cliffs and relax, mostly in early morning or late evening when most people were busy doing other things.

"Okay, I'm back! That was really nice and peacef…" Sakura comes back too see all the guys asleep. Sakura sighed and sweat-dropped, "… whatever…"

THE NEXT MORNING…

As the sun started to rise, Sakura woke up to find Kakashi making breakfast and Sasuke and Naruto STILL asleep. She wondered to herself if it was a teenage guy thing or something, she couldn't ever stand to sleep that long if they were outdoors. She turned over to her other side and groaned as the sun's rays hit her face. Slowly she sat up and walked over to where Kakashi was making their breakfast.

"Oh, Sakura, you're awake," Kakashi said as if he didn't know she was already awake, he knew that she was always the next to wake up after himself. "Would you mind waking Sasuke and Naruto up for me?" He said in an upbeat tone with a smile hidden under his mask.

"Yeah, sure," She replied heading over to the bundle on the ground she knew was Sasuke. She bent down and gently shook Sasuke's shoulder, "Sasuke, Sasuke, time to get up." She heard a groan and he attempted to bury himself further into his sleeping bag when Sakura pinched his side. He sat up abruptly with his hair sticking up on one side and looked at Sakura with a glare clouded by sleep.

"What?" Sasuke mumbled using his arm to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Time to get up and get ready to go," Sakura said in an upbeat tone and smiled brightly, as Kakashi had done, just to make Sasuke annoyed. This was another thing she took pleasure in. She had realized that it was fun to annoy the guys she liked or her guy friends instead of drooling over them or completely ignoring them. She got more guys falling over her that way she found. After she was sure Sasuke was up and moving, she moved to Naruto and shook him violently and found him to still be snoring, so she walked over to the fire and grabbed his bowl of ramen (yes, they have ramen for breakfast when they travel) and walked back over to him and waved the bowl is his face. He sat up and slurped his bowl down all in two seconds flat. Sakura just rolled her eyes and got up to get her things together as Kakashi watched the same scene he did every morning while they were out in the forest.

They all packed up and they were soon well on their way to the Village Hidden in the Sand.

EIGHT HOURS LATER… AGAIN…

They finally arrived at the Village Hidden in the Sand and quickly found their way to the Kazekage's mansion. As they passed the guards and entered the colossal estate, their eyes fell upon Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji, Gai-sensei's team.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto inquired thinking that it would only be his team with the Sand Siblings' team. Rock Lee heard this and turned in Naruto's direction but his eyes had come to lie upon Sakura. It had been had been nearly five years since he had last seen her and his eyes went wide with shock from what he saw. She had grown considerably more beautiful in his eyes.

"Sakura!" Rock Lee said in extreme excitement as he headed over in her direction. She wasn't paying any attention to him and didn't even know he was at the mansion until he was three feet in front of her and holding her hand. She had been lost in how beautiful the mansion was and hadn't recognized his now deeper voice.

Looking for the right thing to say in her shocked state, she stammered, "L-l-ee? Wha-What are you doing here?"

"Why I'm here to assist with the capture of Orochimaru, of course," he stated very excitedly and bent down to kiss a still shocked Sakura's hand, "and don't worry about a thing because I'll be here to protect y…"

"Lee, leave her alo…" Sasuke and Neji both stepped up to stop Lee at the same time and stopped talking and glared at each other in a glaring war. Sakura was still standing there with Lee holding her hand as she and Lee looked at Sasuke and Neji glare daggers back and forth.

"Okay… I think you three have had enough today," Sakura said in an exasperated tone walking off with Kakashi. Naruto about doubled over in laughter.

As his laughter finally died down enough for him to talk, all the other young males were glaring at his finding humor in Sakura walking out on all three of them, he said while still giggling, "Damn, she's become pretty popular among the guys lately. It used to be that I was the only one who showed that they liked her but now it's everyone but me." He continued into another fit of laughter as he was dog piled by three fuming, humiliated and disappointed guys. Tenten looked on in exasperation and followed after Kakashi and Sakura.

WITH KAKASHI AND SAKURA…

Kakashi and Sakura had walked away to let the young men squabble and Tenten soon joined them. The three of them came upon the Kazekage talking with Gai-sensei and the Gaara. Gaara was always with the Kazekage because he would take the title Kazekage when he finally turned eighteen.

Gai realized Kakashi walking up and turned to him and gave one of his infamous smiles and said, "Well, well, Kakashi, I guess you decided to show. How's about we have ourselves a few duels while we're in the same place, and I will beat you again as I did before," as he finished he gave another tooth-shine smile and a thumbs up.

"Gai, to be honest I'm not in the mood," Kakashi said tired from the journey. Sakura and Tenten just sweat-dropped and looked towards the Kazekage and Gaara who were observing the exchange between Kakashi and Gai. Sakura looked back to Kakashi and rolled her eyes. Gaara had averted his gaze as well, only it was to Sakura, it too had been five years since he had seen her. It didn't take him long to realize how she had grown and how her facial features had gotten to be more mature but how her eyes held the same brightness, determination and confidence as they always have. He suddenly found himself wondering if she was still after Sasuke or if they were dating, or even the possibility of her dating another guy. After Gai and Kakashi were finished Neji, Lee, Sasuke and a very badly beaten Naruto, who was STILL laughing, came walking up behind them in the long corridor.

"Naruto, what in the hell happened to you?" Sakura said noticing the cuts and bruises all over his body and Gaara notice how her voice had change as well, it sounded like a perfect melody that he wanted to sit and listen to all day and even whispering in his ear.

Still laughing he simply looked over to Neji, Sasuke and Lee.

Sakura looked over at the frowning Neji and Sasuke and of course, a smiling Lee. He always smiled, just like Gai-sensei. "Whatever," Sakura said annoyed and rolled her eyes. Tenten laughed at the scene and walked over by Gai-sensei. Before anyone else could say anything, Kurenai and her students, Hinata, Shino and Kiba came walking up. Kakashi waited for Naruto's expression but he didn't have to wait long. Naruto's eyes went wide and his jaw hit the floor and he saw an older, more femininely dressed Hinata.

"Naruto! Stop it!" Sakura whispered closing his jaw with her finger, his eyes still wide, "That's rude, quit staring." Kakashi giggled as he took in the scene. He looked back over to Hinata who had noticed Naruto's staring, kind of hard to miss, and she blushed like mad.

The Kazekage cleared his throat and turned to Gaara, "Gaara, now that everyone is here, I will take Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi with me and you show everyone else to their rooms." Gaara just looked at him and nodded slightly and motioned for the rest of the chunin to follow him. Walking down the hall, Naruto was blushing slightly but having a great time talking to a very shy and blushing Hinata. Neji followed the two lovebirds glared at Naruto once more as he watched him flirt with his cousin. Tenten and Sakura were talking and Lee tried to butt in on their conversation while the rest of them were silent. As they continued to walk for what seemed like forever, they ran into Temari and Kankuro.

"Temari, take Hinata, Sakura and Tenten to their room for me," Gaara said talking to his elder sister.

"Gaara, sure I'll take them but they're coming to my room, it's not everyday I get to have some girls over," Temari said all too happily. Gaara simply raised an eyebrow and looked to Kankuro.

"Kankuro, take Lee and Naruto to their rooms and I'll take Sasuke and Neji to theirs seeing as I won't be having other guys sleeping in the same room with me," Gaara said plainly. The girls just snickered and said their goodnights and went on their merry way.

"Why do women have to be so weird?" Kankuro asked as the young men looked on as the girls walked down the hall laughing and giggling.

"You know, I ask the same thing all the time," Naruto commented, "but every time I do ask, I get smacked over the head."

"That's because you're a dumb ass, Naruto," Sasuke explained. Naruto was about to get into it with Sasuke when Gaara butted in.

"Alright, that's enough, Sasuke, Neji, come on," Gaara said turning his back and continued down the hall leaving Kankuro, Lee and Naruto standing there.

"You know what? I think that we should go peek on the girls for fun, what do you guys say?" Naruto asked giggling.

"Actually, I think that's a great idea, what about you, Lee?" Kankuro said turning to Lee.

"But I don't want to do anything to upset Sakura, please don't do it," Lee begged.

"Lee, you're such a party pooper," Naruto said disappointed.

"Oh well, we have plenty more nights when we can do stuff," Kankuro concluded, "let's just turn in for the night, I'm sure both of you are tired anyway."

As everyone headed for bed and rest, someone was lurking around…. But why… find out in the next chappy… hehehe, I know, cliffy, but I tired, maybe later this morning, seeing as its like 2 am, well, hope u enjoy, rate and message pretty please with cherry on top, be nice, its my first fanfic, if you could give some advice, suggestions or ideas they are very much welcomed. Thanks for reading


	2. Late Night Bliss

CHAPTER 2 : Late Night Bliss

LAST CHAPTER REVIEW:

As everyone headed for bed and rest, someone was lurking around…. But why…

WITH THE KAZEKAGE AND OTHER JOUNIN…

"… So we will begin our search in three days, during this time, your teams shall train and ready themselves for an attack at any time," the Kazekage stated to the Jounin team leaders.

"Yes, sir," The three Jounin answered. With that, they all headed to their rooms to prepare for the next day.

ON KAKASHI'S WAY TO HIS ROOM…

Walking down the long corridors alone, Kakashi made his way towards his room when he sensed a presence following him that he had not detected before. Fearing the worst, one of his hands moved up to his headband and the other to his weapons. "Who are you?" Kakashi said in a threatening tone, looking around trying to catch a glimpse of the intruder. Suddenly a small, lean form landed in front of him from the top of the gigantic wall. The person was masked with long hair and carried weapons but had no identifying marks to say which village or group he came from. "Answer me or else I'll be forced to fight you." The masked man gave a slight nod and drew his weapons, as did Kakashi. Kakashi attacked first and found the ninja to be very skilled, agile, and yet, somewhat reluctant at the same time. Kakashi backed off his attack for a moment and asked, "Why don't you attack me?" After a few moments of waiting, he realized he wasn't going to get an answer and attacked again. This time his attack got through the ninja's defenses; however, it only did enough to remove his mask. The mask fell to the marble floor and shattered only to reveal a worried face of… a woman. Kakashi's eyes went wide as he fell to his knees and dropped his weapons, utterly shocked at who he saw, realizing why she was so reluctant. "Rin… but, I thought… you died…" He felt tears come to his eyes and a rush of guilt that he had attacked a person he cared for with such unruly force and found it difficult to breath or even speak the hundreds of questions running through his mind.

"Kakashi… I'm sorry, I wish I could have told you where I was going," Her eyes were soft and filled with unshed tears, "but the Hokage gave me strict orders not to tell anyone…, I'm sorry," her tears slowly starting to fall as she walked over to Kakashi and kneeled in front of him. By this time he had streams of tears rolling down his cheeks, only to be absorbed by the mask that he forever wore. His hand came up to her face and stroked her cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb.

He pulled her close to him, resting his head on hers, breathing in her sweet scent. She suddenly put her arms around him and started to sob in his shoulder, all the while whispering that she was sorry, over and over. His voice cracking with emotion, he said soothingly, "Shhh… Don't apologize, its okay." He kissed the top of her head and she continued to cry, but not as hard as before.

"I missed you so much," She spoke calming down, "I didn't want to go; but…" she choked up again, holding him tighter, pushing her face further into his shoulder.

"It's okay, shhh…." Kakashi said, trying to calm the woman that he cared for so much. After a few moments, he picked her up bridal style and carried her to his room, just at the end of the hall. Entering the room, he placed her between the sheets, removing her weapons and shoes. He then stood up and removed his vest, gloves, shoes, weapons, and headband. Sitting himself on the bed, he pulled her small form into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. Feeling this, she rested her head on his chest and put her arms around his muscular body, still sniffling. He removed a strand of hair from her face only to have her red, watery eyes look up at him and a smile form across her small lips. "I missed you too," Kakashi whispered lovingly, giving a small, nearly invisible smile hidden by his mask and the moon-lit room. Her hand came up to his face and felt the lining of his mask and slowly started to remove it, him making no effort at all to stop her. Once it was gone, her she began exploring his face with her hand and eyes, noticing the smile that still graced his lips and how handsome he had come to be. Tears once again formed in her eyes, but for different reasons. His head lowered some and gave her forehead a kiss, staying there a moment to enjoy having her close to him in his arms after believing for so long that she had died. Noticing her closed eyes and her breathing slowing, he leaned back on the headboard and pulled the covers over them both. Running his fingers through her hair, he leaned closer to her face and whispered, "I love you."

Rin's eyes opened slightly and she looked up at him, almost shocked, she smiled and whispered back, "I love you too." Then they both fell into a deep sleep in each others arms.

Ok, here is chapter 2, sorry it took me so long to update, I had to move and everything on top of writer's block, anyway, please review, the more reviews I get the faster I update. If you have any ideas or constructive criticism, it'd be much appreciated. And for those who don't know, Rin is one of Kakashi's Genin team members from when he was young, along with Obito. So, what will she tell Kakashi about why she had to leave? What has she been doing all this time? Why is she in the Hidden Village in the Sand? And How are the young Chunin going to react to seeing Kakashi with a woman?


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